SHIELD - Sustainable High Energy Absorbing Lightweight Material Development
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Nottingham
Department Name: Div of Materials Mech and Structures
Abstract
This project aims to develop a new generation of sustainable, recyclable lightweight materials which will offer significantly improved energy absorption and shock mitigation capabilities under dynamic impact and shock/blast loading at reduced economic cost. Methods of designing and manufacturing structural components, incorporating the novel material, will also be developed, leading to improved safety and protection in a range of sectors. The proposed material is a syntactic foam based on a stochastic dispersion of porous recycled glass particles dispersed in a recycled and/or bio-based polymer matrix. The focus will be on developing a fully recycled and recyclable material. To optimise materials performance, particularly energy absorption, novel multi-scale materials models (using explicit FEA methods) will be developed and used during the materials design stage of the programme. This will be supported by experimental characterisation of rate dependent properties and failure mechanisms. A new soft processing technique will be developed that avoids damage to the glass particles and degradation of the polymer. Multi-material sandwich structures, comprising the recyclable syntactic foam core and glass-reinforced thermoplastic composite skins, will also be developed, again with full recyclability being a goal. With industrial partners, applications in blast protection, automotive, rail, infrastructure and aerospace sectors will also be investigated.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
Richard Brooks (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Brown K A
(2011)
Meso-scale modelling of shock wave propagation in a celular glass particle reinforced thermoplastic composite
in Proceedings of 18th International Conference on Composite Materials
Lidgett M
(2013)
Virtual modelling of microscopic damage in polymer composite materials at high rates of strain
in Plastics, Rubber and Composites
Liu J
(2013)
Computational Modelling of a Particulate Material under Blast Loading
in Applied Mechanics and Materials
Volkova E
(2013)
Meso-scale modelling of shock wave propagation in a SiC/Al nanocomposite reinforced with WS2-inorganic fullerene nanoparticles
in Composite Structures
Description | COMPSAFE Project - Transport iNET Funding |
Amount | £145,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | COMPSAFE |
Organisation | Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2010 |
End | 03/2012 |
Description | Commercial Aircraft Co of China |
Amount | £493,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | RK4523 |
Organisation | Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China |
Sector | Private |
Country | China |
Start | 05/2012 |
End | 08/2015 |
Description | EPSRC |
Amount | £5,173,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/I033521/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2011 |
End | 08/2016 |
Description | Knowledge Transfer Partnership - Embedding computational design procedures in collaborating company EPL Composite solutions, Loughborough |
Amount | £130,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | KTP 8880 |
Organisation | Innovate UK |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 08/2013 |
End | 07/2015 |